Review: Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?

With nine stories—five of which have never before been published—and an exclusive never-before-seen excerpt from Marissa Meyer’s upcoming novel, Heartless, about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Stars Above is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.

Argh, I have so many feelings! Let me start out by saying this is my all-time favourite series, so I had super high expectations for this book. After all, it was the VERY LAST CHANCE I had to spend with the characters I love so much.

This collection of short stories was the perfect way to wrap it all up.

Both The Keeper and The Little Android feature characters other than the mains from the series.

The Keeper gives us more background into who Michelle Benoit was before she became ‘just Scarlet’s Grand-mére’. It covered bits and pieces we’d heard about through the series in more detail and showed how much both she, and Logan Tanner, went through to keep Cinder alive.

The Little Android was sweet, and we briefly see Cinder in this story. It was aretelling of The Little Mermaid and the ending had me like:

Those stories were fun and all, but, let’s face it, not what I grabbed this book for.

I had read Glitches, and The Queen’s Army previously and loved them just as much this time around.

Glitches pretty much picked up where The Keeper left off and shows how Cinder got to New Beijing and her struggle to fit in with her new family.

The Queen’s Army was Wolf’s story and I loved seeing him struggle to fit in with the pack dynamics and become the person we first met in Scarlet.

The Princess and The Guard was, of course, Winter and Jacin’s story. The reason Winter stopped using her Lunar gift was never really expanded upon in the series so it was great to FINALLY be given the reason why. Their friendship was so cute in the beginning and I LOVE reading any parts of the series that occur on Luna.

After Sunshine Passes By was Cress’ story. Poor, poor Cress. I so wanted to hug little her, and tell her it would all work out okay. She’s so sweet and innocent. Which makes her a downright idiot on Luna, but you can’t help but love her. And when she’s left on the satellite all alone…

Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky. Omigod I just love Thorne so much! He’s so clever and witty and I love Meyer so much for writing this character. This story focuses around the ‘Kate Fallows’ moment first mentioned in Cress where the glimpse of a hero can be seen through all the scheming and petty theft. It’s so easy to see how Thorne goes from a thirteen-year-old-boy to a prison cell.

The Mechanic was Kai’s story. He is the most perfect literary love. I could read complete drivel from his POV and still melt. This story is basically the first chapter of Cinder from his POV. Was it needed? No. Not actually as it didn’t give any more information other than why he was fascinated by Cinder. But on the other hand, hells yes it was needed. This was my second favourite story. Because… Emperor Kai…

Lastly, was Something Old, Something New which I had been restraining myself from skipping ahead to. THERE WAS A WEDDING, GUYS! It… was not the couple I was hoping for. But without giving too much away, the wedding was beautiful and seeing the characters all together again filled me with warmth. It was such a sweet way to end the series and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Until I finished it.

And I realised, that’s it.

It’s over.

I now have absolutely no idea what to do with my life. And as much as I would totally Misery Marissa Meyer to write more, I respect that she knew where to stop.